Raspberry Pi 400: New computer lives entirely inside a keyboard and costs only $70

The latest Raspberry Pi computer has been revealed – and it is just a keyboard.

The British company famous for making cheap and basic computers has revealed its latest device, which puts the chips and other components required to power the computer into the keyboard that it is used to type with.

As such, users only need to add a screen and it will become a fully-functioning computer, the performance of which users compared to an older PC.

It is so simple that it only costs $70, or £67. Customers can spend $100 or £95 to get everything they need, including a USB mouse and the cables required to connect it to a display and power.

The device has been made amid a rise in the use of Raspberry Pi devices in people’s homes during the pandemic, with students and other people who are finding themselves in need of a computer to study and work remotely, the company said.

The new computer is known as the Raspberry Pi 400, and is based on the performance of the Raspberry Pi 4 that was launched last summer. That computer is 40 times more powerful than the original Raspberry Pi, the company said.

But it noted that there had been issues with the original computer. Though it was very cheap, its form factor was not especially user friendly, since users were required to assemble the cables and other hardware themselves for it to be able to work.

The Raspberry Pi 400 was aimed at saving those problems, the company’s founder Eben Upton said in a blog post announcing the new device.

“Classic home computers – BBC Micros, ZX Spectrums, Commodore Amigas, and the rest – integrated the motherboard directly into the keyboard," he wrote.

"No separate system unit and case; no keyboard cable. Just a computer, a power supply, a monitor cable, and (sometimes) a mouse.”

The computer is available to buy in the UK, US and France now. Devices will arrive in Italy, Germany and Spain from the next week, the company said, and it expected them to get to India, Australia and New Zealand by the end of the year.

“We’re rapidly rolling out compliance certification for other territories too, so that Raspberry Pi 400 will be available around the world in the first few months of 2021," Mr Upton said.